human beings. >> very well stated. thank you very much. that's "the ed show" i'm michael eric dyson in for ed schultz. "the rachel maddow show starts now. ezra klein is filling in for rachel tonight. >> thank you, michael. thank you to you at home for sticking around for the next hour. rachel has the night off but we have big news out of washington, where nothing is happening. the house is not in session, and as of this moment has no plans to be in session for the end of the year. nothing is stirring, not even harry reid. yes, i'm still in the christmas spirit. the president meanwhile is in hawaii and won't be returning until tomorrow. now, normally nothing happening would not be big news in washington. nothing happening is kind of the status quo in washington. getting nothing done is to our political system as saying great is to tony the tiger. it's just kind of what we do now. right now, this week, nothing happening is huge news. the reason is that usually when washington doesn't do anything nothing happens. you do nothing, nothing happens. that's how it goes. in fact that's why peop